By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-08-02 06:26:36 | Updated at 2026-08-02 20:46:37
14 hours ago
SEOUL - South Korea registered on Aug 2 its highest temperature since records began more than a century ago, according to the state weather agency.
The south-eastern city of Yangsan saw the temperature reach 42.5 deg C at 1.26pm, the Korea Meteorological Administration said on its website.
Yangsan has been the epicentre of the ongoing heatwave, where temperatures exceeded 40 deg C for a fifth consecutive day on Sunday.
Much of South Korea has been placed under heat warnings, with many cities seeing temperatures climb into the high 30 deg C.
More than 20 localities were on Aug 2 under emergency heatwave alerts, a new warning category introduced this year to better address rising temperatures.
An emergency alert is issued when areas experiencing a heatwave are forecast to hit perceived temperatures of 38 deg C or an actual temperature of 39 deg C for one day.
KMA data show the average annual number of heatwave days in the country has more than doubled to 19 over the past five years, from eight in the 1970s.
A heatwave day is defined as one with a maximum temperature of at least 33 deg C, while a tropical night is one when the overnight low remains 25 deg C or above.
Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change. AFP
